Mark Padilla

Dr. Mark Padilla is Professor of Medical Anthropology at Florida International University, specializing in health disparities, HIV/AIDS syndemics, and disaster impacts on healthcare. He directs the Research Center for Health and Society (REACH) and employs mixed-method approaches.

Research examines structural drivers of health inequities, including tourism economies, migration, spatial stigma, and colonial legacies in Caribbean health systems. His NIH-funded projects investigate physician migration in post-Hurricane Maria Puerto Rico and HIV/drug-use syndemics in Dominican tourism communities.

Publications integrate visual methodologies (PhotoVoice, documentary film) to amplify community voices in health policy discourse. Recent work analyzes disaster impacts on chronic disease management and decolonial approaches to health system recovery.

Dr. Padilla mentors doctoral researchers in medical anthropology, institutional ethnography, and community-engaged scholarship, while teaching courses on global health, ethnographic methods, and visual culture.